Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 10: Lava [Complete]

1236: Elevator?

Holding onto the door continuously was a bit challenging. To be precise, if she used one unit of Higher Consciousness, that unit couldn't be stretched continuously like the texture of chewing gum. In order to make it stretchable, Lin Sanjiu had to convert the "capacity" that was originally its volume into length. When one unit of Higher Consciousness had been stretched to an extremely long and thin state, she would add another unit of Higher Consciousness and continue molding it. This was a process that required continuous focus. If she lost focus and climbed two steps without molding the Higher Consciousness, the end hanging on the door would be pulled off.

Though it was possible, she wasn't familiar with this method, so it was a bit challenging, and she had to stop and adjust several times. Several times when she raised her head, she found that the three people ahead had already climbed far ahead. The little Glowfish Bohemia took out to illuminate the surroundings had become blurry clusters of light, suspended high in the dim and narrow stairwell.

Advancing single-file in such a narrow and dark place made it easy for someone to sneak in or for someone to get left behind. When she caught up to them again, Lin Sanjiu slowed down a few meters behind Puppeteer and breathed a sigh of relief.

The stairs and the walls on both sides were made of an unknown material, and it seemed like countless mouths thirsty for a long time, rapidly swallowed up all the sounds they made. Forget about footsteps, sometimes when Bohemia said something at the front, Lin Sanjiu couldn't catch what was said, and the words dissipated before she could hear them—like right now.

"What?" She had to raise her head and shout loudly. In the dim light, the only things clearly visible in front were Puppeteer's dark and silent back, and the occasional shadows higher up that flickered on and off. "Who's speaking? Is it Bohemia?"

"I said," Bohemia raised her voice again, "the stairs ahead are steeper and narrower! They sure know how to save on materials!"

The narrower and steeper stairs as they went up was one of the reasons they couldn't stick close together. Another reason was, of course, Puppeteer.

"Why don't you take out a few more Glowfish?" Lin Sanjiu suggested. "I can't see how far back anymore."

"You have Higher Consciousness. If someone forces the door open, you'll be the first to notice. Is there any need to look back?" Bohemia retorted, not holding back even with two people in between. "Do you think my fish can be used endlessly—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Lin Sanjiu suddenly felt her surroundings darkening. The Glowfish swam away from her head with a flick of its tail, along with the other Glowfish. They had all swiftly moved toward the front of the line. Even before she could speak, she heard Bohemia's surprised question, "Who's there?"

Everyone came to a halt.

"Huh?"

Lin Sanjiu faintly heard Bohemia's question again and saw the shadow of the former security guard, who was standing by the wall, extending his neck to look forward; he was the most alert one. Every time they stopped on the way, he would immediately press his back tightly against the wall, leaving space for Puppeteer to fight.

"Weird," Bohemia said. After two seconds, she finally turned around and shouted, "There's a dead body here!"

"Is... is it really dead?" the former security guard asked tremblingly.

Whether it was truly dead or not, she could tell by touching it. Lin Sanjiu shouted, "Excuse me," and as she squeezed past Puppeteer, she continued to mold the Higher Consciousness. After some difficulty, she finally reached the step just below Bohemia. Due to the narrow space, the former security guard stumbled a few times and almost lost his balance.